“This is the first case in which any operative of the Indian Mujahideen have been convicted,” the NIA said in a statement.

All five have been convicted for offences including waging war against nation, criminal conspiracy and murder.

The twin blasts in Dilsukhnagar area in Hyderabad on February 21, 2013, killed 18 persons, including one unborn child in mother’s womb, and injured 131 others.

The NIA, which probed the case, arrested Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar from India-Nepal border in August 2013. Tahseen Akhtar and Rehman were arrested by Delhi Police from Rajasthan in March 2014. Shaikh was arrested subsequently.

The investigating agency filed three charge sheets in the case. Charges were framed against the five accused on July 16, 2015 and the trial commenced on August 24 the same year.

The trial had been going on in the special court at Cherlapally Central Prison on the city outskirts where the five accused are currently lodged.

The NIA said during the trial, the prosecution examined a total of 157 witnesses. A total 486 exhibits and 173 material objects were marked during the trial as evidence.

The twin blasts occurred within a distance of 100 metres at crowded places in shopping area Dilsukhnagar on the evening of February 21, 2013.